The chemical, morphological and anatomical studies of golpata fronds have been discussed. The lignin., pentosan and a-cellulose in golpata fronds were comparable to some common nonwood and hardwood raw materials. The alkali, water and dichloromethane solubility were higher than wood and common nonwood. The fiber length 1.73 mm. was observed, which is little bit shorter than softwood and longer than hardwood but fiber diameter was very short. The pulpability of golpata fronds has also been studied. The pulp yield was very low and Kappa number was high. The strength properties were better than that of some common nonwood pulps. FT-IR spectrum and alkaline nitrobenzene oxidation products showed that golpata fronds lignin mainly consist of syringyl (S) and guaiacyl units (V). (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.